When comedian and Chicago native Ron Funches is onstage, his bright, beaming grin spans the length of the theater, and his delicate, sing-song delivery lulls and entrances the audience like they’re listening to a patient kindergarten teacher reciting a nursery rhyme.
But, like many nursery rhymes, Funches’ comedy occasionally betrays a flash of something sinister. On his 2019 Comedy Central stand-up special “Giggle Fit,” he starts a sweet and endearing story about his teenage son, Malcolm, devouring a piping hot pizza, wearing a shirt but no pants, like Winnie the Pooh. And, just before the tale takes a dramatic and, well, scalding turn, he smiles, turns to the audience and his voice drops a few octaves: “… and then Jesus takes the wheel.”
